


Nothing's that good

by CaptainTi



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: A finding yourself fic, All grown-up characters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Going back home, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5563084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainTi/pseuds/CaptainTi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sora was miserable in the city. He hated his job, his home, the people he called his friends. His brother Roxas convinced him to take a leap, change his life around and take a trip back home to their parents on the small island where they grew up. Where the past kind of waits, but time hasn't been standing still.</p>
<p>Or<br/>Sora needs to get the hell out of his life and get his head back on, so he visits his parents and finds an old friend to help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing's that good

“Happy birthday!” Another partygoer kissed him on the cheek, at which he forced his face into a smiled. He should be happy, like all these other people were, but he wasn’t. He was turning twenty-eight but it felt more as if he was walking straight into the grave. He no longer liked to party, he didn’t enjoy drinking and he was single. He was stuck in a job he didn’t like, and his flat was equally boring. His life really sucked right now. He remembered when he turned eighteen and his feelings back then. How he’d had a small party with his closest friends and how he had been full of life, dreams and expectations. He sighed, lighting a cigarette and slowly releasing the smoke in a sigh. Maybe he should change something, move or go on a date or do anything he wasn’t already. His thoughts were interrupted as he saw his younger brother climb out of a taxi outside of the apartment building.

 

Roxas was everything Sora wasn’t. He was four years younger, and he finally seemed like he was really living life. A few years ago Roxas had met Axel, his boyfriend and since he’d started socializing and traveling and following his dreams. The two were just back from a round-the-world trip, and here was Sora, doing nothing of the things he had wanted to do those ten years ago. He wished he had the guts to do something like that, that he wasn’t so stuck here in this place. He’d change something tomorrow, he promised himself as he put the cigarette out and re-entered his flat and the party. Tomorrow he’d make a change, he had to if he was to survive.

 

Two weeks later found Sora without a job, without a home and feeling as if he was the loneliest person in the world. He had two boxes and a suitcase worth of belongings and was wondering if he’d gone mad as he knocked on his brother’s front door. Maybe quitting his job out of the blue was a bad idea. Having to move in with his brother was not part of his plan ever, but here he was. He winced when he remembered the awkward phone call when he had explained that he’d quit to his parents. Their first question was what new job he had gotten and proceeded to freak out when he told them he didn’t have anything. They would freak out even more if they knew he’d moved in with Roxas, so the two hadn’t told them yet. In a way Sora thought it was the only thing that made sense, if he didn’t have a job he really couldn’t afford living on his own. This way he had really cheat rent, and he wasn’t forced to work at a place that drained his life to pay for a home he didn’t enjoy. The bonus was that Roxas spent most of his nights at Axel’s already, the downside was living on a couch.

 

Roxas opened the front door and Sora got in, setting his stuff on the floor in the hallway.

“So, got any plans yet?” Roxas asked, brewing some coffee for his brother.

“No.” Sora sighed. “What am I doing?”

“You’re making a change.” Roxas smiled at his brother. “Look. I know everyone else thinks it’s crazy, but I really think this’ll make you happy. You used to be the happy one.”

“Yeah, but you were an emo kid so it wasn’t really hard.”

“Haha.”

“Thanks for letting me stay.”

“Ugh, it’s not like I’m here too much anyway.” Roxas shrugged.

“Why haven’t the two of you moved in together yet?” This was something Sora had wondered about for a while, but he hadn’t been able to talk to his brother for a while, not for any longer periods and not alone at least. Maybe that was one of the problems. “You’ve been together for a long time.”

“I want to kill him if I’m around him for too long.” Roxas shrugged, as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. Sora realized that it probably wasn’t for them. “He bugs me if I can’t get away and there’s no way we can afford a flat bigger than a one bedroom right now. So we’ll wait, there’s no rush really.”

“It’s pretty cool that you’re not only doing what everyone else is, but doing what’s you know, best for you.”

“Well, Sora, so are you now.”

“Ehhhh...”

 

It was a week later, when Roxas voiced his idea. “Why don’t you take some time and live with mum and dad?”

“What?” This idea came from seemingly nowhere, and Sora felt a little betrayed. He had thought his brother had his back in this. “Is it not okay that I live here? I can find someplace else...”

“Nah, that’s not it. I just think... maybe you need to go back, remember who you were before you pretty much lost your will to live. Who you were when you had dreams and if maybe you still have those.” Sora hated that his younger brother was making so much sense too. When had Roxas become the smart one?

“... Maybe you’re right. I’ll call them; see if it’s okay that I stay with them for a week or so.” Roxas beamed at him. At least one person in the world was happy about the situation.

 

Going back to live with your parents, even if it’s only for a week, is a hard thing. Sora was used to not having to deal with other people demanding that he do things, and talking all the time and being overprotective. He had been back for two days and he already felt smothered. How did he usually function during the holidays?

“Sora, are you going out tonight or do you want dinner?” His mother asked.

“Ehhh...” He didn’t have any solid plans actually, but he didn’t want another boring dinner. “Yeah, I’m going out, no need to make me dinner.”

“Okay. Call us if you’re not... coming home before eleven, so we can sleep.”

“Yes, mum.” At least he didn’t have a curfew.

 

That’s why Sora found himself on the beach, watching people bathing in the calm waves as the sun started to drop from the sky. He remembered when he’d been young and he, Kairi and Riku had spent most of their summer nights on the beach. They’d stay up talking, joking and dreaming. They’d promise to always be together and now he was the one here again, alone and not knowing who he was or where to go next. Back then he’d been Sora, the happy kid with the best friends and the wildest dreams. Now he was nobody without anyone. The sky turned orange as he sat there, he noticed the other people leaving the beach and he basked in the quiet as they walked away.

 

The sun was beautiful, he thought. The sky was amazing and the sound of the sea calming. He felt at home here. He finally realized that maybe living in the big city wasn’t his thing, maybe someplace here was better. He briefly wondered if there were any jobs around here. Living would be cheaper too, but food more expensive. They were on an island after all. He chuckled. He had taken the first ship of the island when he graduated high school, lived off of nothing and worked himself almost to the bone to get through college and now he was thinking about moving back? He couldn’t shake the thought that he had wasted all those years on nothing now.

 

He must have fallen asleep, because he woke up when he heard someone yell. He sat up, confused about where he was for a moment before he remembered.

“Hey! You shouldn’t be sleeping here, the water’s about to rise!” The person spoke loudly even as they walked closer. Sora rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to stand before the person came over.

“Yeah, I know.” He mumbled, not loud enough for the other person to hear, as he stood up and brushed sand off his clothes.

“Stupid tourists...” The other person said, probably thinking Sora couldn’t hear him.

“I’m not a fucking tourist, I just fell asleep.” Sora said angrily. “Idiot.” The man was standing close to him now, and he could see that he was taller than Sora, and had long light hair. It was too dark to see if it was someone he knew (or more like, used to know), so Sora only rolled his eyes and started walking back home.

 

He noticed that there was a car in the parking lot next to the beach and frowned. Most people walked to the beach. It wasn’t really needed to have a car in such a small place, and the busses were good if you needed to leave town. Maybe the other person lived somewhere else. He rubbed his hands against his arms to try to work up some warmth. It got pretty cold here when the sun set this early in the summer. He sighed and started walking, after checking his phone and noticing that its battery had died.

 

A couple of minutes later the car he’d seen stopped beside him as he was walking.

“Hey, you want a ride?” Sora turned to decline, but stopped when he saw who the person was. The light hair was actually gray and the face handsome. “Sora?”

“...Hey Riku.” He didn’t know what else to say to his old friend. For some reason he hadn’t thought about the possibility of meeting Riku here. “Um, I didn’t realize that it was...” He trailed off, since it was clear that Riku had had no idea that the person he had met was him.

“I didn’t know... Let me give you a ride. It’s going to start raining soon.” Riku pointed to the sky which was starting to fill with clouds.

Sora couldn’t figure out how to decline so he opened the car door and slid in. “Uh, thanks.”

“No problem.” Riku smiled a little, but it came across as forced. “Are you staying with your parents?”

“Yeah, same place as ever.” Sora chuckled. “Even the same green color.” Riku smile changed to one Sora pinpointed as genuine.

“They aren’t big on change.”

“No, I guess.” It was one of the things he admired about his parents, the fact that they knew how to be content. He didn’t have that. “They like it here.”

“Well...” Riku started, sounding a bit defensive, but Sora didn’t let him interrupt his train of thought.

“I do too. This place is kind of amazing.”

“Yet you haven’t been back for a while.” Riku’s voice was soft, but he spoke the truth and that made Sora feel guilty. “And you didn’t like it as much when you moved.” Sora remembered the fight they’d had when Sora moved, the one that made them not speak to each other until now, nine years later.

“I know. I guess things change.” Sora sighed. “Maybe it wasn’t the place that was the problem either.” He was mostly talking to himself, voicing things he had thought about during the past couple of weeks. “Maybe it’s just me.”

“Are you okay? Like, really?” Riku asked, his concern apparent in his voice. Sora looked at his old friend, wondering why he didn’t fight for their friendship more. Suddenly he started crying, and Riku looked surprised.

“No.” Sora said. “I’m so far from okay that it’s crazy.” Riku frowned and parked the car.

“Let’s have a coffee.”

 

“I really don’t understand why you’re taking your time with me.” Sora said as they sat in a booth in the one open diner in the town. “It’s not like I’ve been treating you well.”

“Well.” Riku took a sip of coffee. “I never contacted you either. Plus, that was so long ago, I barely remember why we fought.”

“Man I’m a mess.” Sora sighed, pulling at his hair. “It shouldn’t be like this.”

“So what? Life doesn’t come in a perfect mold, you didn’t either. At least you’re doing something now.”

“Yeah, moving back in with my parents.”

“If you want to live here again, you’ll find something.”

Sora hummed thoughtfully. “Oh, that reminds me. How come you have a car?”

“Ah. I work with people around the island.” He paused. “I’m a gardener.”

“Then you won’t need an administrator then.” Sora laughed a little, feeling tired. “If I even want to work with that now.”

“I’m sure it’ll work out Sora.” Riku put his hand upon the brunet’s. “Something’ll show up.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m just glad that high school course in psychology is getting some use.” Riku’s sea green eyes sparkled. “Even if you said it was a waste of time.”

“It was! It didn't teach us anything other than what we already knew! And the teacher!”

“Haha, you have a point there.”

“Ugh, he was such a weirdo! I swear he was hitting on me, gross.”

 

When Sora finally got home and crawled into bed he was feeling a whole lot better. Meeting Riku made him feel as if living here wasn’t as dead end as he had been feeling. And the other man really made him feel as if he was at home. He sighed, if only he had kept in contact with his friends, he wouldn’t be feeling like this. He vowed to ask Riku about the others when they met the next time. Or he’d just text him.

 

The best thing about being on an island and in a small town was that no one had a whole lot to do, which meant Sora got to see Riku the next day. Granted it was a Saturday, and Riku didn’t work on the weekends. So the two were sitting on the beach eating ice cream, talking and looking at the ocean.

“Do you even talk to the others from high school?” Sora asked, looking at the grey haired man.

“Not really. Tidus and Wakka still live on the island and Selphie too. I talk to Kairi, she lives on the mainland.” Riku winced. “And Philip and Eric and those guys still live in town, but... ah we don’t really meet. To be honest we don’t get along”

“Oh...”

“You want to meet them?”

“Yeah. I mean I still like you.” Sora felt like his old, young self again. “So, maybe I’ll be friends with them.”

“Eh, yeah, they... they have a party each Saturday, on the restricted beach. We can go if you want?” Riku didn’t sound thrilled, but Sora decided to ignore it. If he was going to live here he needed some people to talk to and hang out with after all.

“Yeah!” Sora smiled, and Riku answered with a smaller one.

 

The restricted beach was a small beach squeezed in between two large rocks. It was a dangerous place to be if the waves were high, and the amount of accidents and deaths in the past made most people stay away. That and the fact that it was a bit from town, but not too far to walk made it the perfect place to have parties. The police knew though, and came by if needed. Sora was excited to meet some people, but Riku wasn’t really. He’d already explained that he didn’t get along with the people too well, but he came for Sora. Parties held on beaches on Destiny Island usually had a bonfire and whatever alcohol people could afford, and this one was the same. Sora greeted some unknown people, saw some people who were younger than him and then he was pulled into a hug.

“Heeeeeey Sora!” It was Philip. He looked a whole lot older than Sora, and his eyes were already hazy.

“Hey.” Sora smiled. “How’re...”

“Heard you were in town man, have you had a drink?” He shoved a beer into Sora’s hand and started talking about himself, about his parties and how he lived surfing and drinking. Sora felt his excitement melt away. Had the guy always been this self-absorbed, or was this a new thing? He already knew how much money his freaking parents had; there was no need to brag to him.

 

Sora felt his smile get stiffer and stiffer as the hour passed, and at the end of it he found Riku sitting alone away from the party.

“Having fun?” Riku asked, and looked surprised when he got a short shake of the head. “No? Not your scene?”

“I’m over parties I guess, too old.” Sora sat down, sighing. “Plus all these people are jerks. Who bloody cares how many beers you’ve had? It’s not like we’re sixteen... At least I hope no one’s sixteen here.” Riku laughed at this. “Were they always this much of jerks? Was I that much of a jerk?”

“Nah. I’m not sure, they were always kind of hung up on themselves. I think it’s gotten worse since though. Or the rest of us have grown up.”

“Let’s leave.”

 

“Seriously, why wouldn’t you want to do anything else with your life?” Sora complained as Riku drove them from the beach. They’d decided to go to Riku’s and watch a movie. “Surfing and partying all day, every day! Can they get more freaking boring?”

“They don’t have to do anything else, so there’s no point.”

“Ugh. What a life. They probably think it’s great though, too thickheaded to see that there are people who need help, and things that need to be done in life. They don’t have any responsibility and instead of feeling stuck they love it.”

“Look, there’s a reason I don’t hang around them anymore.” Riku said. “And it’s the same one that made Tidus, Wakka and Selphie move.”

“I get it. We grew up. But man, we had some bad taste to hang out with them back then.”

 

Sora’s parents saw that being with Riku made their son happier, but that didn’t take away the fact that they were worried about what he was doing with his life. This was the reason why they kept on pestering Sora about what he was going to do with his life, wondering if he really was going to move back or if he had found a job yet. The nagging was the reason why Sora was sitting at the bench outside of the diner, waiting for Riku to show up. He had to get out of the house to get away from his parents so he called Riku to follow him to work after lunch. Riku even offered to pay him a little if actually had any work for him. But first they were to have lunch, if Riku ever showed up.

 

It turned out that Riku didn’t really have time to have a real lunch with his friend, so they bought a sandwich each and ate it in the car on the way to Riku’s next client.

“Sorry, but they called just now and said they need me to fix the roses too.” Riku explained. “And they live on the other side of the island, so it takes a while to drive.” Sora only hummed.

 

Three hours later Sora knew garden work wasn’t his thing. He said so as they got in the car to go back home, and Riku laughed at him.

“I could tell, weakling.”

“Hey! Just ‘cause you’re all muscle and nice.” Sora pouted, and turned a bit pink at the thought of Riku’s muscles. (They were very nice and very attractive, and that made Sora feel a little weird because he thought he might be crushing on his friend.)

“It comes from hard work, which I take it you’re not used to.” Riku flexed his arm muscles a bit at his friend, humorous glint in his eye.

“Not physical work.” Riku continued to laugh at him.

 

Sora continued to help Riku out with work though, and while he kept telling everyone that it was to have something to do, it was mostly because he liked being with Riku. Plus it sure beat being alone. It was after one of those long days (Riku started work really early) that they were seated at the diner, eating dinner when their old friends Wakka and Selphie walked in.

“Hey Riku!” Wakka said, not seeing Sora whose back was against the door. Wakka was a big man with ginger hair. He walked over to their table and sat down when he noticed Sora. “Hello Sora, we heard you’d moved back.”

“Hello.” Sora smiled, suddenly shy. Selphie came over too, her face set in a smile and her brown hair in the same curled bob as it always had been. “Hi Selphie.”

“Hi Sora, Riku.” Sora already knew that the two of them were a couple, and that they lived a couple towns over. This was the first time he met them since he’d moved away too, and it felt a bit weird. Riku had told him that they were his closest friends when Kairi moved away. Sora never knew them very well though, only that they were nice.

“How’s everything?” Wakka asked, waving the waitress over.

“It’s good, as usual.” Riku was the one who answered. That continued during the whole conversation. Sora didn’t know what to really say, so he kept quiet, which got him a few concerned looks from Riku, but he only smiled reassuringly. He merely didn’t have anything to say.

 

“You were really quiet when we met Selphie and Wakka.” Riku said as they entered his house for some movies before the end of the day.

“I just didn’t really have anything to say.” Sora shrugged, kicking his shoes off. “I don’t know, I don’t know them. It feels weird after meeting Philip and Eric.”

“Because they weren’t what you remembered?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Sora sat down on the sofa, which was way too comfortable for him not to feel like he was going to fall asleep in. “It’s harder to see people who’ve a good life, than the people you think are wasting everything away. I guess that makes me feel more like I’ve failed.”

“Except you haven’t.” Riku sat down too. “You’re not a failure, you’re doing great. You passed college, and had a job and all of that. You’re just... changing things up. I think most people admire that, most people wish they could just up and leave like you did.” Sora hummed.

“Did I ever tell you about why?”

“...yes? No? What do you mean?” Riku frowned, not sure about where the conversation was heading.

“I was together with this guy a year ago or something. He wasn’t really anything special, but it was fine. He was nice and kind of cute. Then he started talking about life and death and what he had dreamed about when he was younger. I thought he was planning to go travel and do all of the things he was talking about.” Sora sighed. “Then one day he broke up with me. It wasn’t really out of the blue, since we didn’t really have all that much chemistry from the beginning, but I was a bit surprised. I guess I thought it was because he wanted to change his life. Which, yeah he did, but...” He trailed off, thinking for a moment. “He tried to kill himself instead.” Riku made a sound of surprise. “And after that I started thinking that I needed to change something. Before I became like him. It still took me almost a year though.”

“...do you have any contact with him today?”

“No, not really. We talked on the phone a few times, but... there’s not a lot to say. He has a new boyfriend I think and he moved to a different town. Last I heard he was doing fine, still going to therapy and all.” Sora smiled. “In the end it ended up being a kind of good thing. It shook me a little, made me think. I don’t want to live life being unhappy, not if I can avoid it.”

“Then that’s good. Plus it got you to come back here, and for us to be friends again.”

“Yeah.” Sora smiled. “Then I had to wait until I was alone at a party before I actually did something real.”

“This part I already know.” They smiled at each other and moved on to decide on what movie they wanted to watch.

 

A full month after Sora had come to live with his parents Roxas and Axel came by, the trunk of their car full with his things. Sora was glad to see his brother, have someone else to talk to and reason with. He knew Axel would be around most of the time, and that would make it hard to talk. He liked Axel, but they didn’t really have anything in common and they just didn’t have that connection you need to make it easy to talk to someone. He was sure Axel could fend for himself for an hour or two though. And he knew Roxas would need to be away from the redhead at least some hours. He didn’t bother unpacking his things though, hoping that it would motivate him to get a place of his own instead of mooching of his parents. They were getting on his nerves, and he really needed to move out soon. He sighed and picked up the paper, scanning it to see if he could find anything to work with.

 

“Hey Rox?” Sora said, walking down the stairs.

“Yeah?” The younger answered, turning around to look at his brother.

“You guys want to hang out with me and Riku?” He asked, stopping on the third step. “We’re going to watch the sunset at the beach.”

“...sounds romantic.” Axel mumbled. Sora rolled his eyes. Axel had been hinting that he and Riku were a couple for the past four days.

“It’s pretty. You guys coming? Riku’s driving.”

“You want to?” Roxas asked his boyfriend.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Sora smiled.

“Great. He’ll be here in half an hour.”

 

At the beach Sora noticed that Riku was upset about something and he took his chance to ask about it when the other two wandered away for a bit to make out or something similar.

“Nothing.” Riku answered in a voice that more hinted that everything was wrong.

“Hey, didn’t we promise that we’d always be honest?” Sora reminded him about that time when the two of them and Kairi had hung out and made promises by nicking themselves in the finger and mixing the blood.

“How do you even remember that?” Riku asked. “And yeah, yeah. I didn’t think you’d ask them to come with.” He shrugged, to indicate that it wasn’t that big of a deal. “I’m just a little disappointed.”

“...why? We’re alone most of every day?” Sora clearly thought his best friend was being stupid.

“No we’re not. We’re working, there’s always someone else around. And the same when we’re at the diner. I just wanted some time alone...” Sora smiled.

“Gods, you are cute.” Riku stiffened at this, making Sora realize what he had said. “Uh, I mean...”

“You’re so... ugh.” Riku trailed off and pulled the other man close to him instead, planting a soft kiss on his lips. Then he blushed and turned away, mumbling an apology.

“No worries.” Sora smiled a bit dazed. “Unless you don’t plan to do it again. Then you should apologize all the time.” Riku turned to look at him, forehead wrinkled in confusion, which changes to a smile when he saw the honest grin and playful sparkle in the other’s eyes. So he moved forward and pressed his lips against Sora’s again.

 

“See! I told you they weren’t only friends!” Axel’s voice interrupted their fifth kiss of the evening, causing Sora to pout as Riku pulled away.

“We were before tonight.” Sora said with his face buried in Riku’s neck. “Go away.”

“We want to go home. Roxy’s cold.” Axel stated.

“...We’ll just walk.” Roxas interrupted and pulled his boyfriend away. “It’s not very far anyway.” He smiled at the couple and smacked his boyfriend on the arm.

“Hey! That hurt!”

“I’m never going to live this down.” Sora said as he listened to the pair argue as they walked away, heading home. “Please don’t force me to be around them again.”

“Eh, one of them is your brother. I doubt you’ll be able to avoid him for very long.”

“...is that a challenge?”

“No.”

 

Sora should have known that his and Riku’s relationship would have spread around the town in a day, but he had kind of forgotten how fast things travelled in small towns over the years he’d been gone. So he was surprised when old women were giving him and Riku well wishes and cooing over them as they entered the grocery store the next day to buy some food. It was a Thursday, in the middle of the day, so the place was filled with older people who had nothing better to do. It seemed as if everyone wanted to talk to them too.

“You’re such a charming couple!”

“We’ve been waiting for you two to get together ever since you were little. We gave up when you moved away Sora, but fate always finds a way.”

“Make sure you keep him here Riku, otherwise you never know what’ll happen. Some boys tend to wander off if you don’t hold them on a tight leash!”

“You better make sure you know how to cook, Riku loves it when you bring him food.” The last lady was one of Riku’s clients.

“She always gave me these stale loaves of bread when I started; she thought I really liked them.” Riku told Sora as they left her at the pastas. “Worst bread ever.” Sora laughed at this. He really did feel great now. They’d spent last night talking and saying that they should take it as slow as they needed, but Sora felt great, as if he was flying, floating. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face, and Riku was walking around grinning too. Everything felt easy too; no matter if he didn’t have a job or a place to live, everything would be fine. He felt that hope for the future that he’d been lacking for the past few years, along with a sense of peace. Now he just needed to pull things together.

 

“I hear you’ve worked with big companies in the past.” The graying man they were working for said to Sora as they watched Riku sketch out where he wanted to place the new plants. “Something in marketing, right?”

“Eh, yeah. Mostly administrating and project managing, but my degree is in marketing and communications.” Sora said, smiling at the way his boyfriend was scowling at his sketchbook.

“Are you looking for that kind of work here?”

“Well, it’s what I know to do, but I realize I’ll have to be a bit flexible in what I do around here.” The man hummed.

“I’m looking for a partner for my business.” The man blurted out, making Sora look at him in surprise. “We make marketing campaigns on all platforms, are you interested?”

“Uh, do you... need my resume or...?”

“Just come in to see me in my office next week.” The man held out his card and Sora took it, still in a daze. “Oh look, Riku’s done.”

 

The next week had Sora dancing into the house. He’d just been at the office of the man, Mr. Smith and gotten hired. He had a job, one that sounded pretty damn great (he would get to do a bunch of different things he hadn’t done since college) and he’d get paid well too. Mr. Smith was looking to find someone to share the work with, he wanted to spend more time with his wife and less time working, so he’d been out looking for someone and when he heard about Sora he just had to check him out. And Sora would be able to work from home most of the time when they didn’t have meetings, but the office was in town anyway so he didn’t need to get a car.

“Why are you dancing, you dolt?” Roxas asked when he saw his brother doing his weird dance moves. “I’m trying to procrastinate packing here and you’re annoying.” He and Axel were leaving for the city the next day. Roxas was not looking forward to go back to work which made him grumpy as heck.

“I just got a job.” Sora sang. “And it’s legit and great!”

“...congrats then.”

“Now all I have to do is find a place to stay and life’ll be wonderful.”

“Oh great. Stupid happy go lucky Sora is back with a vengeance.” Roxas sighed. He always had hated it when Sora was happy when he was miserable.

“Hey Roxas!” Axel called from upstairs. “You better get your ass up here and participate in packing!” Roxas groaned at this, but picked himself up and went to help out, grumbling the whole way up the stairs. Sora rolled his eyes and picked up his cell phone to text his parents the good news. He’d tell Riku when they met up for dinner.

 

Sora didn’t think that he’d feel so stupidly happy when he turned twenty-nine. Soft music and the low murmur of people talking washed over him as he kept his eyes closed and grinned. This was a far stretch from his last birthday party. He didn’t feel like he was drowning, and he didn’t feel alone. He was happy now.

“Hey.” A pair of lips kissed him on the cheek, and Sora opened his eyes, to look directly into Riku’s.

“Hi.” He smiled, and his boyfriend returned it with a soft one of his own.

“How come you’re out here on your own?”

“Just think about the past year.” Sora put his cigarette out. “How bad it was and how good it is now.”

“I’m glad.” Riku hugged the other. “I never told you, but I was a little scared when we met last year.”

“Why?”

“You were so different from who you used to be, it was really as if you had given up. It was scary to see that everything I’d always thought was you were just gone.” Riku paused for a bit. “I’m happy you’re who you are now. And that I get to be with you.”

“I’m happy I get to be with you again too.” Sora smiled at him. “Are you going to ask now?” Riku blinked in surprise.

“Ask?”

“Yes.” He grinned wider. “Come oooooon.”

“Yeah, yeah, so are you gonna move in with me?”

“Of course! I thought you’d never ask.” They laughed at each other.

“You’re so pushy.”

“You love me anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

  
End

**Author's Note:**

> Written during NaNoWriMo 2015 to Julia Nunes' "Nothing's That Good".


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